Europe used to lead the world in the production of farmed fish but in recent years we've taken our eye off the ball.

We have allowed our non-EU competitors to assume dominance in the sector and we have seen our indigenous industry haemorrhage jobs to countries outside the EU. We import almost 50 per cent of our seafood when we are perfectly capable of producing it.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector in the world. In Europe we have the perfect environment for fish farming. We have an almost limitless coastline with ideal bays, fjords and sea conditions. We lead the world in the science and technology. And yet, as Richie Flynn, Head of the Irish Fish Farmers Association, told the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee recently in Brussels: "We are in danger of starving in a land of plenty."

Why is this? It is because aquaculture has become one of the most heavily regulated sectorsin the food production industry in Europe.

Eu fish-farmers have to deal with more than 400 different pieces of regulation, not to mention extra planning and environmental constraints in Member States, before they can reel in a single fish. And this is not simply from the Directorate General (DG) for Fish in the European Commission. It is from DG Environment, DG Trade, DG Sanco and a host of other agencies.

Red tape and the seemingly endless production of legislative directives in Europe are a gift to our competitors in China, Japan, Chile, Vietnam and elsewhere. At a time when demand for healthy fish products is rising internationally, as marine fish stocks continue to decline, opportunities for EU aquaculture to lead the world in innovation and technological development are being hampered by red tape.

When you consider that in modern systems it takes only one cubic metre of water to produce 1Kg of fish, but 40 cubic metres to produce 1 Kg of beef, then it is clear that the fish farming industry is one which we should be encouraging.

The efficiency of the fish-farming sector in a global environment, where water is rapidly becoming a political issue, is of key importance.

If we overcome the constraints to development, aquaculture has a bright future in Europe, producing products of high quality while conserving its vital natural resources.

The principal aquaculture products of the EU are fish such as trout, salmon or seabass and molluscs such as mussels. The total value of production increased by 49 per cent between 1993 and 2003 to 2.8bn Euro. The main producing countries are France, Italy, the UK, Spain and Greece, accounting for 80 per cent of aquaculture output. We produce over 1.3 million tonnes of products per year, providing more than80,000fullandpart-timejobs, ofteninremote areas.ForScotlandthisisavitallyimportantsector.

Of course, the industry recognises that sound Euro regulation provides protection for consumers and that consumer confidence is vitally important. But the industry favours regulation, not strangulation! It is ridiculous that we apply tougher conditions to our home-grown producers than to producers from outside the EU who flood our markets.

There is a need, first and foremost, for strategic planning within Member States, so that available sites for fish farms are clearly identified within integrated inland and coastal management plans. These would dramatically cut the amount of time spent going through the planning process.

There is a great need for financial support for SMEs. And above all, there is a need to look at simpler legislation for fish farming with better implementation at Member State level. Less red tape, less bureaucracy and a one-stopshop for the development of new fish farms are essential pre-requisites for a successful industry.

We also need to be more flexible in licensing of therapeutic agents and planning new farms.

We need to improve the image of fish farming, which is still regarded as polluting, wasteful of fish meal, disease-ridden, dangerous to consumers due to toxins, dangerous to wild stocks, poor on animal welfare and producing an inferior product. All of these notions are wrong, misguided and out of date.

The modern fish farming sector is dynamic, environmentally sustainable, clean, welfarefriendly and safe, producing a valuable, highquality, nutritional product. Fish farms are also providing an invaluable and reasonably priced food resource. But so long as these out-dated and erroneous images of the industry remain, it will affect the way Member States and the Commission deal with aquaculture and prevent a clear overall strategy.

Our farmed fish are produced to the highest standards of any fish farms in the world and we will not do anything to undermine that. However, we must simplify the regulatory regime and free up Europe's fish farmers to reclaim their rightful place as world leaders. The Commission, Parliament, Member States and the sector need to forge a new partnership so that we can again lead the world in fish farming

Struan Stevenson has been invited by the Danish Government to deliver a keynote speech on the future of aquaculture in the EU at a conference in Billund on April 28,2008.

'Red tape in Europe is a gift to our competitors in China, Japan, Chile, Vietnam and elsewhere '

Struan Stevenson is a Scottish Conservative MEP

'We need to improve the image of fish farming, which is still regarded as polluting, wasteful, disease-ridden and dangerous'